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How Invasive Plants Are Creating California’s Wildfire Crisis

How Invasive Plants Are Creating California’s Wildfire Crisis

Fire has always shaped the landscape in California. But now it’s hotter, more frequent, and more widespread than ever—a shift driven by human development, climate change, and the prevalence of invasive species, which are non-native plants that have negative effects on local ecosystems. Grasses and trees brought to California for agriculture, landscaping, or by accident, have changed the fire dynamics in the state. forestry and fire protection. This transformation is an overlooked driver of the ravages of wildfires in California and around the world. Southern California is dominated by thickets known as chaparral. This landscape has historically been characterized by short plants, shrubs, and perennial native grasses, retaining moisture and remaining green for many years. Fires, when they do occur, are rare because lightning is infrequent. When the fire burns, they burn hot but will not spread far because the gaps open between plants act as natural firebreaks. The introduction of non-native grasses in the 1700s basically changed this balance. Brought by European settlers, this grass thrived alongside heavy livestock grazing and regular burning, making it highly resistant to disturbance. They overwhelm native species and fill gaps in shrublands, creating continuous carpets of flammable material, especially along modified areas like roads – frequent starting points for fires. and grow again from seed. Its short life cycle leaves a layer of vegetation that dries up and dies in late spring. “They have a very high surface area for their volume and are very flat and thin, so they can keep a lot of dead material, almost all year round,” said Carla D’Antonio, plant community researcher and professor at the University of California. , Santa Barbara. In May, the dead grass blankets the ground. “It’s so flammable that it requires any kind of contact — a cigarette, a spark from someone dragging a chain on the highway, or lightning,” said Hugh Safford, a vegetation and fire ecology researcher at the University of California, Davis. Weed fills every available space— a phenomenon called fuel continuity. When a fire burns, the continuous line of dry vegetation acts like a wick, carrying the fire into the shrublands. “People underestimate the damage of weeds because you can destroy weeds quickly, while shrubs are hard to cut,” D’Antonio said. “But if the sparks and buckets fly in the middle of the grass you know, then – boom – everything around you just goes up like gasoline. It spreads quickly and continuously. It’s like throwing tissue paper into a fire. It’s known as aromatic, these trees have leaves that slough off and carry the embers up to half a mile away, says Acuña plants burn very hot, very energetic like the eucalyptus tree next to the house, which is mainly composed of petroleum materials. That is a very strong fire,” he explained.

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